Quarreled & Tested

Exodus 17:1b-2, 4-7
Water Out of the Rock

17 The whole community of Israel started out from the Desert of Sin. They traveled from place to place, just as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim. But there wasn’t any water for the people to drink. ² So they argued with Moses. They said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses replied, “Why are you arguing with me? Why are you testing the Lord?”

⁴ Then Moses cried out to the Lord. He said, “What am I going to do with these people? They are almost ready to kill me by throwing stones at me.”

⁵ The Lord answered Moses. “Go out in front of the people. Take some of the elders of Israel along with you. Take in your hand the walking stick you used when you struck the Nile River. Go. ⁶ I will stand there in front of you by the rock at Mount Horeb. Hit the rock. Then water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses hit the rock while the elders of Israel watched. ⁷ Moses called the place Massah and Meribah. That’s because the people of Israel argued with him there. They also tested the Lord. They asked, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Verses marked NIRV are from the New International Reader's Version (NIRV) Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica.

School cafeteria image:

• Water bottle or Thermos bottle

Message:

It’s easy to love God when everything is going right for you in your life, isn’t it? (Allow children to respond.) But how about when things don’t seem to be going right? Maybe things are going terribly wrong for you. How do you act when things seem to be going so wrong? (Allow children to respond.) Have any of you felt anger toward God in those moments? Can someone even be mad at God? You may even feel like testing God. For example, “God, if you let me fail this test, I will never trust you again.” Or “God if you let me get a cavity while at the dentist, I will never trust you or brush my teeth again. Or even a more serious, “God if you let my parents get a divorce, I will never trust you again.”

The Israelites were dying of thirst. Remember last week’s scripture passage? The Israelites were free but were frightened because they were really hungry and weren’t trusting in God enough to realize that God would provide food for them. Now they were dying of thirst, and that made them angry, so angry, in fact, that they had forgotten all the times that God had blessed their lives. They became more and more angry, and they began to test God. They wanted to see if God really cared about them.

What do you think God did with all these complaining, testing Israelites? (Allow children to guess.) Interesting, but the first thing God did was give the Israelites exactly what they needed. God answered their complaints about dying of thirst by instructing Moses to take a stick from the ground and strike a rock with that stick. When Moses did, water poured out of the rock like a faucet that we might see in the restroom. As the Israelites watched their leader, I am sure Moses gave them a look of “I told you we should always listen to God” on his face.

For most of us, when we open our lunch box at the school cafeteria, we need to have something to wash down our food. When I took my lunch to school, I had a thermos inside. This was the most amazing thing because it could have cold or hot liquids put in it. Some days, mom would put soup in the thermos; on other days, there was a nice cool drink. (Show the thermos if you have one.) When we eat our lunch, we need water or apple juice to quench our thirst. (Hold up a water bottle,) What is your favorite drink when you are thirsty? (Allow children to provide responses.) Do you ever complain when there isn’t something for you to drink to go with your lunch? (Allow children to respond.)

Because of all the complaining Israelites, Moses decided to name the place where the rock gave water with Hebrew words that mean “testing” and “complaining” as a reminder to all of us about how the people of Israel failed to trust God.

Do you know the amazing thing about this story from Exodus in our Bible? God gave the Israelites water. God showed Moses where to find the very thing that they were grumbling and complaining about. Yet, God didn’t grumble back; God just said, “I’ll go show you the rock where the water is. Come, hit the rock and water will come.” God didn’t make them wait or test them because they tested God.

This week when you quench your thirst during lunch in the cafeteria, remember God. Remember, God offers amazing grace. Remember, God provides us with our every need. Remember, God fills our bellies when we are hungry. Remember, God quenches our every thirst. Remember, God walks with us on our journey of faith and is there even when we mess up and make mistakes. Give thanks to God!

Prayer:

God, help me to know you are always with me and that you always love me. Help me to trust that you care so much for me, even when things don’t turn out the way I would like. Amen.